“Shit, I think I just solved the murders.” My words slurred as the others shook their heads at each other.
“Why did she say she was dead?” Jake’s blue eyes were screwed up as he looked at me.
Glancing at Dave, I touched the sleeve of his smart navy suit jacket. “Tell them! They need to know. I’m just getting weaker, and I need their help.”
The twitch of his lips told me that he wasn’t happy. My head was spinning as my stomach rolled. I’d well overdone it with the drink.
“Fine.” Heaving out his breath, Dave shrugged at me as he checked that the humans in the pub were busy listening to the man on the stage. “Gemma was shot when chasing Peter Mason. She bled out on the pavement and technically died. However, the ley line’s magic has kept her alive.”
Their faces were blurring a little for me, but it didn’t look like either one of them believed us as they glanced at each other.
“Are you as drunk as her?” Jake laughed nervously.
“It’s true, I spoke to the ancestors and everything. I can’t bring myself back to life without consequences. Mother Earth does not like dark magic.” My off-handedness made them stare at me.
Maybe the drink was making me a little too careless.
“Let’s take this somewhere else,” I muttered, gesturing for them to link hands.
They did, their eyebrows raised in question as I closed my eyes and whispered a relocation spell.
Jake and Kate almost stumbled when we landed in my living room. Dave moved away to examine my framed poster of the Labyrinth. A film that reminded me vividly of my childhood.
Waving a sobriety spell around my head, I yawned as the feeling of being drunk left me. I didn’t instantly regret my decision to tell my team about my state like I thought I would. In fact, relief flooded me as they glanced around the room, their eyes clocking every bit of book or film paraphernalia. Yes, I was a little nerd, but they knew that already.
“Okay.” Sighing, I sat on the sofa. “Everything I’m saying is the truth.”
Jake and Kate stared down at me as Dave moved to sit on a chair. They were silent as they watched me, a question in their gaze.
“I didn’t tell you because I’m vulnerable. Outside the pub, I was attacked by witches from the PFF. While casting a spell, the magic lessened, causing me to lose momentum. I’ve never felt that before.” Clearing my throat, I fought back the urge to cry. “Ever since I was killed, my link has weakened, and someone, the serial killer, has managed to start draining the ley line.”
“But, how?” Kate asked, thumping down on the sofa next to me. “Only an Essex witch can link into the line.”
Taking a deep breath, I looked at Dave. He was staring off into the distance, not taking much notice of us. I wasn’t surprised he’d disconnected himself. He was the only one who knew the whole story. It was time to share the burden.
“I think the serial killer is an Essex witch. One that I’m supposed to marry.”
“What?” Jake choked on the word as he stood in the middle of the room.
There, I’d admitted it out loud. Dave’s attention was back on me, a slight nod of the head an indication that he agreed.
“I’m sorry I kept this from you, but I was scared that I couldn’t trust you.”
Kate’s mouth dropped open, her resentment of my confession glaringly obvious. Okay, so if I was truly honest, I wasn’t exactly 100% sure I could trust them fully now, but I was sick of hiding everything from them. Especially now I knew that the killer wanted me.
Rubbing his jaw, Jake shook his head. “Did you just say that the serial killer is your fiancé?”
A laugh burst from my chest as Dave growled low in his throat. “Of course not,” he snapped. “Since when has Gemma been engaged?”
Shrugging, Jake held his hands up in surrender. “Chill, dude, I’m just a little confused right now.”
Explaining my father’s bet, I told them everything about how I’d basically been betrothed to some powerful witch’s son. Their facial expressions when I explained that the man had lived for centuries and wasn’t a vampire almost made me laugh. I couldn’t believe it either.
“If the serial killer is able to access the line, he’s using the power to prevent me from seeing what he’s doing,” Kate said, her hands clasped in her lap.
She’d been extremely frustrated that she’d not been able to use her gift in the case. I understood, I felt that same vulnerability. My skills had lessened since my death, my mind not completely on my job.
“There is something else,” I muttered, my gaze seeking Dave’s again.
Taking over, Dave stood up and started to pace. “To get her memories back, Gemma had to do something for the ancestors. An elder brought back Gemma’s father for a short time.”
Both the other agents gasped, their eyes widening. They knew that my father had been dead since I was a child. Not only that, they also knew that witches who messed around with death would turn their magic impure.
“The ancestors took the price so the elder didn’t have to pay it,” I interrupted before they could accuse me of putting her in danger. “My father warned me that if I didn’t marry the man who is trying to drain the line, and stop him, the evil from hell or the underworld or whatever it is, will get free. The imbalance of magic will rid the veil that keeps us separate.”
Both Kate and Jake huffed out their breath, the sound echoing throughout the room. Neither one of them knew what to say. It was a pretty big threat that my father had thrown our way.
“Our plan of action,”
